Recommended dietary intake levels for calcium and vitamin D revised

[Guest guest]

Recommended dietary intake levels for calcium and vitamin D revised.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has published new calcium and vitamin

D recommendations for healthy Americans. Vitamin D is essential for

promoting calcium absorption in the gut and maintaining the blood

calcium and phosphate levels needed for bone growth and maintenance.

Together with calcium, it helps protect older adults from

osteoporosis. Much recent attention has focused on vitamin D because

studies suggest that it may play a major role in the prevention of

cancer and several other diseases. There has also been widespread

concern that Americans are not getting enough. However, the new IOM

report concludes:

**Aside from bone health, current evidence does not support other

benefits for vitamin D or calcium intake.

**The amount of calcium needed after infancy ranges from 700 to 1,300

milligrams per day, depending on age.

**Most Americans up to age 70 need no more than 600 international

units (IU) per day of vitamin D.

**People 71 and older may require as much as 800 IU per day because

of potential physical and behavioral changes related to aging. Higher

levels have not been shown to confer greater benefits and have been

linked to other health problems.

**Except for institutionalized elderly and dark-skinned people, most

Americans are getting enough vitamin D.

**The number of people with vitamin D deficiency in North America may

be overestimated because many laboratories that measure blood levels

appear to be using standards that are much higher than the IOM report

considers appropriate.

The new report, Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D,

can be read online free of charge or purchased at a discount from the

National Academy Press Web site.

http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Dietary-Reference-Intakes-for-Calcium-and-Vitami\

n-D.aspx